Product Details

• Actors: Rob Paulsen, Jess Harnell, Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, Sherri Stoner
• Directors: Liz Holzman, Rusty Mills, Tom Ruegger
• Writers: Charles M. Howell IV, Earl Kress, Kevin Hopps, Nick Dubois, Randy Rogel
• Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: Unrated
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: December 21, 1999
• Run Time: 80 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00000K4ZI
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #146,285 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Animaniacs: Wakko's Wish (Clam) [VHS] (1999) Rob Paulsen (Actor), Jess Harnell (Actor), Liz Holzman (Director), Rusty Mills

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great finale for Animaniacs...not just for kids, either., November 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Animaniacs: Wakko's Wish [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Through the application of liberal amounts of cash and anability to place last-second bids on eBay, I've managed to lay handson an advance copy of Wakko's Wish. I'm glad I did. It's a worthyfinale to the Animaniacs franchise.

I won't get into the plot. Daniel Gallo did so on Usenet a few months ago, and did a thorough job of it. Suffice it to say that the plot is a good framework to build the movie on. For those who were wondering if Animaniacs could support 80 minutes worth of story, this will answer the question with a loud YES!. The different characters have different places in the story, but they're woven together smoothly and well; there's no sense of jumping back and forth between storylines. The ending is logical and fits well.

Wakko's Wish spends a lot of time paying homage to the series itself. I believe that most of the CRGA entry for the movie will be references to Animaniacs episodes, rather than the rest of the world. There's a fair amount of that as well, though. Those who appreciate potshots at real- world happenings won't be disappointed. You'll find plenty of humor here, whether you're 10 or 40. I suspect that, had this gotten theatrical release, it would have been a case of kids dragging their parents to see it, with the parents coming out afterwards laughing more than the kids.

There's plenty of original music here. At first, I thought it was all going to be musical, but right about the time the story picked up, the prevalence of songs as opposed to spoken dialogue changed. That made for a good change in feel, and worked well. The music, as well as the story, allowed Jess Harnell's singing talents to take center stage, and he shows just why he's doing well as a professional singer (though in places where he's not immediately known). Just about everyone gets a chance to show off their musical talents; those who think that Pinky can't sing get a dramatic rebuttal, and even Sherri Stoner and Ben Stein take a whack at it, with humorously bad results. I don't know if Sherri can sing, but Slappy sure can't.

TMS's animation is at the top of the heap. Their Warners are generally recognized as the standard to which everyone else aspires, and, if anything, they've raised the bar here. Not once did I catch an error in modeling or in continuity. There are several scenes with very fast action, all handled quite well, and more than a few difficult pans. There's also a fair amount of CGI, though it's so well done and so unobtrusive that you'll have a hard time picking it out. This is the first cartoon I've seen that combined cel animation and CGI in a manner that wasn't jarringly dissonant.

About the only negative I can bring up is the final bit. The writers resisted the tendency to over-senitimentalize right until the very end, but there they succumb to temptation and deliver a message with a heavy hand. Animaniacs can and does do better than that. Even so, it's not objectionable enough to make you want to throw the tape in the trash after seeing it; the rest of the movie is way too good for that.

The credits had a pleasant surprise; every major and nearly all minor speaking roles are credited to the voice actors who performed them, and the rule the TV series follows about only crediting a voice actor once even if they play multiple characters is not followed here. The viewer is shown exactly who voiced everyone. There's also a disappointment: no gag credit. I don't know why not, but I expected to see one and didn't.

Overall, Wakko's Wish is a winner. It's well worth ordering and waiting with bated breath for it to hit your doorstep on December 21. Animaniacs fans, and anyone who enjoys a good comedy, will love it. Tom Ruegger and his team have done a great job.

Thanks, guys. If it had to end, this is the best way I can think of doing it.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as the TV series, but not bad..., October 26, 2001

By 

Dag Nygaard - See all my reviews

This review is from: Animaniacs: Wakko's Wish [VHS] (VHS Tape)

If you haven't seen the "Animaniacs" TV series, "Wakko's Wish" might be a little hard to follow at times. The number of in-jokes are staggering, and a lot of the characters don't get enough screen time to properly introduce them. Still, the movie does give even the "Animaniacs virgin" a fair deal of exposure to the cast and relationships.

The Warner Siblings are the stars of the show, of course, and although they never get quite as zany as they were in the TV series, they have several brilliant moments. Pinky and the Brain are also in great shape here, and a lot of the funniest moments in the movie are thanks to them. The rest of the cast make varied preformances -- The Goodfeathers do better in this movie than they ever did in the TV series, as do Mindy and Buttons, but Slappy isn't really up to par (mostly since she doesn't get to blow anything up), and Rita and Runt aren't used to their full potential here either.

For the people who HAVE seen the series, it's impossible not to compare the movie rather unfavorably to it. The TV series is funnier, has better music, is more intelligent and has more of that genuine charm that comes from really good animation. This isn't to say the movie is bad, but it does lack that little extra spark to raise it from merely "good" to "outstanding."

All gripes aside, "Wakko's Wish" is the first direct-to-video animated film I've seen that actually makes good use of the format. It's one of those rare movies that is more enjoyable the second time you watch it, because by then you know what's really going on, and a lot of the scenes that seemed overly-saccharine during the first viewing suddenly become delightfully ironic. This is a storytelling trick that is ideally suited to the direct-to-video format, since those types of movies ARE the ones most likely to be seen repeated times. I hope more producers will learn from this.

"Wakko's Wish" definitely deserves four stars out of five. It's quite good, while not up to par with Warner's very best.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Addition to the series., December 19, 1999

By 

M. Neylon "masem" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Animaniacs - Wakko's Wish (VHS Tape)

One of the key factors that went into the development of Animaniacs was the vaudeville-type nature of the show: a large cast of characters with some headliners, and a little bit of something for everyone of all ages. Wakko's Wish continues this tradition with a plot that combines all the major Animaniacs characters, adds a large number of well-done musical numbers, humor for all ages, and overall is an excellent addition (and hopefully not a conclusion) to the Animaniacs series.

If you have never seen Animaniacs, this movie may not be the best place to start: there's a lot of in-jokes (such as Dot's story, Pinky and Pharfignewton's relationship, and the oddities in the Cave), and the large number of musical bits may remind you of typical theatric animated films. However, those that are familiar with the show will recognize that music plays a significant role in both the series and in the movie. The music itself is outstanding as composed by Randy Rogel, including several original works as well as a lyrical adaptation of Liszt's 'Hungarian Rhapsody #2' that does an excellent job of progressing the plot instead of being an aside to it.

The plot itself is very good; simple and easy to understand for the youngsters, but leaves enough meat for the creative humor that attracts adults to this show. The pacing is a bit off at points; the first and last 10 minutes may seem slow as the characters and setting is established, then concluded, but once the movie hits the middle block, it moves quite well, and you'll wonder where the time went. Given that there are 9 teams aiming towards the Wishing Star (in a "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad World"-type fashion), they are connected very well, with airtime shared being all of them fairly (Needless to say, the Warners get most of it, but it's their show to begin with). Even more impressive is that the characterization remains unchanged: Brain still wants to take over the world, Slappy is still grumpy, Mindy is still overly curious. This is also quite surprising given the number of characters actively involved with the plot.

Voicework is well done: Rob, Jess, and Tress do an excellent job on their voices for the Warner Sibs throughout, and the supporting cast supply their voices well. All the characters aid in the lyrics, which may be odd for some of the voice actors; for example, Nathan Ruegger, who voices Skippy, is in his own 'wonder years', and his singing may be off at points (but is nicely commented on within the movie).

Animation is top-notch as done by TMS, who has done the best animation for Animaniacs in the past. A good use of shadows on both characters and background help to immerse the viewer into the story. There's a few CGI parts, some painfully obvious, some not, but these are limited and do not detract from the overall enjoyment of the show.

Those with younger viewers will be glad to know there are no real sensitive parts in this movie. Besides Pinky getting bopped on the head with a pencil, there's no real violence. There is on Bambi-esque like moment near the end, but it passes quickly, and you shouldn't have to worry about consoling your youngster after it's over.

Overall, Wakko's Wish is a joy for any fan of the Animaniacs show, and continues the tradition of bringing humor and entertainment that can be enjoyed at multiple levels. Some of the humor and plot requires a passing knowledge of the TV show, but for those that have it, this movie is a great trip, and is an excellent addition to the series.